Point source pollution: discharges such as effluent from industry and municipal wastewater treatment facilities.

There are many ways to improve water quality in bays and bayous. These are some of the most common strategies used by our Water and Sediment Quality subcommittee and partners:

Watershed-Based Plans

Watershed-Based Plans are strategies for mitigating impairments and / or concerns in water bodies. In Galveston Bay, bacteria, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins are the some of the parameters resulting in impairments (Houston-Galveston Area Council [H-GAC], 2014). There are two types of Watershed-Based Plans in the Galveston Bay estuary.

1. Total Maximum Daily Load/ Implementation Plans

A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) is a regulatory process triggered when a water body is placed on the TCEQ’s list of impaired water bodies, the 303(d) list. The TMDL calculates the maximum amount of a pollutant that a water body can receive and still meet water quality standards. An Implementation Plan (I-Plan) is a stakeholder-driven plan that describes how the pollutant reductions described in the TMDL will be achieved.

Watershed Protection Plans are voluntary (non-regulatory) plans developed by watershed stakeholders. A Watershed Protection Plan can be developed to preserve and / or restore water bodies. Local stakeholders work to improve or protect water quality by looking at issues beyond typical water quality parameters.

Best management practices include any practice that could be implemented to protect water quality and ensure safe human and aquatic life use. The successful implementation of best management practices is dependent on gaining early and sustained participation and involvement from stakeholders in the watershed, which can be a time intensive process. Pet waste disposal stations, riparian buffers, pump-out stations for boater waste, and stormwater treatment wetlands are some examples of best management practices in the Galveston Bay watershed.

Priorities for ensuring safe human and aquatic life use include:

support watershed-based plan development and implementation,

support nonpoint source education and outreach campaigns,

implement nonpoint source best management practices,

host nonpoint source workshops,

support stormwater education programs,

maintain the capacity and integrity of sanitary sewer systems across the region to encourage compliance,